Hal Turner called her ‘a violent, black, racist, bitch’ whose lynching would teach other Blacks that ‘white people are tired of your bullshit, behave or die’

by David Swanson

Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney sent an email around on Sunday in which she wrote:

“[I]t has just now come to my attention that a ‘journalist’ who suggested that I be lynched was actually being paid by our own government to say that. Now, when I reported it to the FBI, how in the world was I to know that he was at that time on the FBI’s payroll?”

“Hate blogger” Hal Turner’s lawyer said last week, and prosecutors agreed, that Turner was “trained by the FBI on how to be deliberately provocative” and “worked for the FBI from 2002 to 2007 as an ‘agent provocateur’ and was taught by the agency ‘what he could say that wouldn’t be crossing the line.’”

Turner is being charged with making death threats against Connecticut legislators and Illinois judges and is apparently going to claim that his actions were legal because he did the same sort of thing when employed by the FBI. In an Associated Press story published Aug. 18, Katie Nelson writes:

“Prosecutors have acknowledged that Turner was an informant who spied on radical right-wing organizations, but the defense has said Turner was not working for the FBI when he allegedly made threats against Connecticut legislators and wrote that three federal judges in Illinois deserved to die.

“‘But if you compare anything that he did say when he was operating, there was no difference. No difference whatsoever,’ [his lawyer] said.”

This story has also been written up by Wired and by The Southern Poverty Law Center, but without the McKinney angle.

McKinney wrote in her email: “Interesting that charges stem from his comments against Connecticut lawmakers and Illinois judges, but not from the threat made against me, a sitting Member of Congress at the time!” And apparently the threat against McKinney was made when Turner admits to having been on the FBI payroll.

John Judge, who worked for McKinney, writes of Turner:

“This is the guy who announced a program topic suggesting that Cynthia McKinney be lynched on her way to the polls to vote in 2006 and published her campaign office address on the website. He asked how she would look swinging at the end of a rope and what message it would send to other ‘uppity’ Blacks. I called NJ Homeland Security and FBI at the time …. The FBI agent I spoke to said, ‘We know all about Mr. Turner.’ Looks like they did.”

While Turner’s website is down, another website [AssataShakur.org] has what it claims was posted on Turner’s:

“LYNCHING CONGRESSWOMAN CYNTHIA MCKINNEY: SHOULD IT BE DONE BEFORE HER JULY 18 PRIMARY ELECTION?

“Tune-in to ‘The Hal Turner Show’ this Wednesday evening from 9:00-11:00 PM eastern US time as we talk about this topic!

“Cynthia McKinney is a violent, black, racist, bitch whose official re-election campaign web site calls white people ‘crackers’. As such, on this Wednesday evening’s show I will ask the question ‘Given the prevalence of black crime in America, would it serve the public good to LYNCH Congresswoman McKinney within the next few weeks, while she’s on the campaign trail, so as to send an unmistakable message to other blacks: white people are tired of your bullshit, behave or die.”

Now, I realize that this sounds like ordinary civil discourse in tea-partied America, and yet it’s fairly easy to imagine altering it in ways that would have “crossed the line.” For example, Turner might have targeted a Republican, or a Democrat in good standing, or a white person. Surely that would have crossed some line.

This story first appeared Aug. 24 on Let’s Try Democracy: Writings by David Swanson.
Cynthia McKinney’s Aug. 23 email about the Hal Turner/FBI call for her lynching

Following is the entire email sent by former Congresswoman and presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney and received by the SF Bay View on Aug. 23, 2009. She begins by referring to her current five-day fundraising tour for the San Francisco Bay View, “Cynthia McKinney’s Gaza Solidarity Triumph Tour”:

“Friends,

“I am in the Bay Area and rocking with the San Francisco Bay View newspaper. But something quite insidious is happening and I think you should know immediately how it involves my friends and me.

“Hot on the heels of my learning that the Georgia Green Party might have been described by the U.S. Government as a ‘terrorist organization,’ it has just now come to my attention that a ‘journalist’ who suggested that I be lynched was actually being paid by our own government to say that. Now, when I reported it to the FBI, how in the world was I to know that he was at that time on the FBI’s payroll? Interesting that charges stem from his comments against Connecticut lawmakers and Illinois judges, but not from the threat made against me, a sitting Member of Congress at the time! I wonder why. To whom can I or any other innocent citizen turn when the government, itself, is the instigator?

“John Judge, my Congressional staffer, is the one who reported the threat. Here is what John just wrote, along with the article that reports that Turner was on the FBI payroll at the time the threat was made against me, according to Turner’s attorney. See the green highlights below:

“John Judge wrote:

‘This is the guy who announced a program topic suggesting that Cynthia McKinney be lynched on her way to the polls to vote in 2006 and published her campaign office address on the website. He asked how she would look swinging at the end of a rope and what message it would send to other “uppity” Blacks. I called NJ Homeland Security and FBI at the time since he related it as a death threat. The FBI agent I spoke to said, “We know all about Mr. Turner.” Looks like they did. Now they say he was trained as an agent provocateur by the FBI to get others to participate in illegal acts. As Jim Garrison says in the movie “JFK” after interviewing Clay Shaw, “I think we got one.” Here is an excerpt. – JJ”

[From the Associated Press story reprinted in full below:] “Prosecutors have acknowledged that Turner was an informant who spied on radical right-wing organizations, but the defense has said Turner was not working for the FBI when he allegedly made threats against Connecticut legislators and wrote that three federal judges in Illinois deserved to die.

“’But if you compare anything that he did say when he was operating, there was no difference. No difference whatsoever,’ Orozco said.”

[From Wikipedia:] “Harold Charles ‘Hal’ Turner is an American white nationalist and white supremacist from North Bergen, New Jersey. He was arrested in June 2009 over alleged threats to politicians, and is currently jailed without bail. Prior to Turner’s arrest his program, The Hal Turner Show, was a webcast from his home once a week, and it depended on listener donations.

“Turner promotes antisemitism (including the rounding up and killing of Jews), he opposes the existence of the state of Israel and he denies the Holocaust.

“According to the Associated Press, Hal Turner has exposed through his attorney that he worked for the FBI from 2002 to 2007 as an ‘agent provocateur’ and ‘his job was basically to publish information which would cause other parties to act in a manner which would lead to their arrest.’
AP story: ‘Attorney: FBI trained NJ blogger to incite others’

[Here is the Associated Press story referred to above, reprinted in its entirety with Cynthia McKinney’s green highlighting:]

“by Katie Nelson

“Hartford, Conn., Aug. 18, 2009, AP — A New Jersey blogger facing charges in two states for allegedly making threats against lawmakers and judges was trained by the FBI on how to be deliberately provocative, his attorney said Tuesday.

“Hal Turner worked for the FBI from 2002 to 2007 as an ‘agent provocateur’ and was taught by the agency ‘what he could say that wouldn’t be crossing the line,’ defense attorney Michael Orozco said.

“’His job was basically to publish information which would cause other parties to act in a manner which would lead to their arrest,’ Orozco said.

“Prosecutors have acknowledged that Turner was an informant who spied on radical right-wing organizations, but the defense has said Turner was not working for the FBI when he allegedly made threats against Connecticut legislators and wrote that three federal judges in Illinois deserved to die.

“’But if you compare anything that he did say when he was operating, there was no difference. No difference whatsoever,’ Orozco said.

“Special Agent Ross Rice, a spokesman for the FBI in Chicago, said he would not comment on or even confirm Turner’s relationship with the FBI.

“Orozco spoke to reporters after a court hearing in Hartford on Tuesday. Turner, 47, of North Bergen, N.J., did not appear, because he is in federal custody in Illinois. His arraignment on the Connecticut charges was rescheduled to Oct. 19.

“In June, Turner urged his readers to ‘take up arms’ against Connecticut lawmakers and suggested government officials should ‘obey the Constitution or die,’ because he was angry over legislation — later withdrawn — that would have given lay members of Roman Catholic churches more control over their parish’s finances.

“He wrote in Internet postings the same month that the Illinois federal appeals judges ‘deserve to be killed’ because they issued a ruling that upheld ordinances in Chicago and suburban Oak Park banning handguns. He included their photos and the room numbers of their chambers at the courthouse.

“Orozco officially joined Turner’s defense team in the Connecticut case on Tuesday, with approval from Superior Court Judge David Gold. Orozco said his Newark, N.J.-based firm has been representing Turner for the past five years, including during his FBI informant years.

“Turner’s Connecticut attorney, Matthew R. Potter, said it’s too early to tell which trial will move forward first. Orozco said he plans First Amendment defenses in both cases.

“Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, said the office would not comment on Orozco’s statements.